Tag Archives: iPad

Cult of Mac is reporting a complete list of iPad Mini models has leaked, and it confirms most of the rumors I’ve heard over the past few months:

Lower Price: The starting price for an 8 GB wifi unit is $249, $100 more than the 7″ Kindle Fire, going up to $649 for a 64 GB with cellular connectivity.

LTE/Cellular: Speaking of LTE, there are both wifi and LTE versions in all storage capacities. That’s a pretty good deal– $649 is the starting price for the original iPad with just wifi; if you’re good with the smaller size, you can get a lot of bang for your buck. Oh, and we’re not calling it WiFi + 4G anymore, since 4G LTE connectivity isn’t available outside of the US and Canada (there goes my European vacation…).

Color: It’s not going to be available in multiple colors like the new iPod Touch. Bummer. It will, however be available in black and white like the iPad and iPhone.

For me, I really prefer the larger size. I’ve used a 7″ Kindle Fire off and on since it came out, and the 9.5″ size really works for me. If I want something smaller, I’ll just use my iPhone. But for someone who wants the iPad experience without shelling out the full-sized iPad price, this is a great option.

I’m betting, too, that with the iPad Mini, we’ll see a rise in the use of iPads for education. At $249, you can buy 2 Minis for the price of one regular iPad. It’s perfect for parents who want their child to use an iPad– but not their iPad– or school districts that are dipping their toes in the eBook pond. Paired with the underutilized iBooks 2 platform, offering this lower price point will really allow Apple to change eBooks in education (as noted by TUAW’s Erica Sadun).

What do you think? Will you run out to buy an iPad Mini for yourself or your kids?

My iPhone fits snuggly in my back jeans pocket. My iPod fits perfectly in my track jacket pocket. But, what about my iPad? Where on earth should I store it while taking a nice stroll down the block to my favorite internet café? Oh, the dilemmas in life!

I could just get a cute new purse that holds the new sleek iPad, but how boring and passé! I know exactly what I’ll get – a dress that has a pocket in front perfect size for my iPad. If I don’t feel like getting all dolled up that day, I can get a plain white or black t-shirt with the same size pocket in front and pair it with my fav iPhone holding jeans.

Sounds crazy? Well an Australian based company, iClothing, has designed both a dress (an adorable dress at that) and T-shirts that have a custom fit pocket in the front for iPad owners. The pocket is securely stitched into place so that once the item is put inside, it’s as cozy and safe as a baby kangaroo in its mother’s pouch. The dress is currently sold out (boo!) but you can grab the T-shirts for $44.95!

I have a feeling that Steve Jobs will ask for a custom tailored black turtleneck iPad carrier shirt for the upcoming Apple conference. What do you think? Maybe it will be a trend for all attendees? Or, we’ll see it in a museum somewhere in 20 years. Either way, a pretty cool idea!

Non-US iPad users have gotten access to their iTunes App Stores a week early, giving them a peek at what to expect from the iPad apps selection, reports PCWorld. Limited to certain countries, Apple has revealed the iPad App Stores earlier than expected, for those that purchased their iPad through third party services, such as eBay or Craigslist.

While the iPads themselves won’t be officially available in these countries until later this month, those that were too anxious to wait for their nearby Apple stores to sell the popular tablet can now get a better idea of what to expect from their iPad App Store. In some ways, it’s a little surprise. In other ways, it’s a disheartening realization of Apple’s ongoing global fragmenting.

Those non-US iPad users will lose their already purchased apps if they sync with their country-specific iPad App Store, and certain US-specific apps won’t work at all. And the iPad book store won’t be available for non-US users for some time. While there’s sure to be a way around losing all one’s apps, it’s a roundabout process with an equally roundabout solution.

Part of the problem, if you want to look at it that way, is the instant success of the iPad device. With US sales of the tablet exceeding 1 million units in its first month, Apple had to delay the iPad’s release elsewhere in the world. That has prompted some to purchase their iPads on the “grey” market, leaving them in an operational limbo for actually utilizing their new devices.

It seems like a silly problem to have, but it very much indicates the ways in which the world has not shrunk. In many ways, global distribution of a product isn’t as easy as making it available in stores. A certain attention to each localized market is necessary, in addition to the other factors to consider for a worldwide marketing and sales campaign.

A good problem to have, sure. But failing to improve the process overall could open up the doors for Google and other companies, particularly as the mobile industry looks to expand at a quickening pace. While Apple’s control makes it slower to move, it also restricts consumers at multiple points of access, which can be wholly regulated by their location alone.

And the US isn’t immune to this process–AT&T is still the only company that is legally allowed to power the iPhone’s network, despite growing consumer demand and the availability of other phones through multiple carriers. Already Google has looked to break such a cycle, though its Nexus One initiative was somehow lost in the loftiness of such a goal. But Google isn’t one to back down, and neither is Apple. That leaves us still wondering how and when Apple will make its products more universally friendly, in the literal sense.

Apple sold 120,000 iPads the day it opened its doors for pre-sale orders, making the new member of the all-star device lineup already a commercial hit. Yet the revelation of Apple’s battery replacement policy has stirred a bit of controversy, particularly as the device hasn’t even reached the hands of consumers yet.

The battery replacement policy will charge iPad owners $99 to swap out the device’s battery, upon which time they will also receive a new iPad. The policy is similar to the iPhone battery replacement system, save for the fact that your iPhone battery is the only thing that gets replaced. But the debate about whether or not the customers should pony up the cash to have their iPad replaced is of concern.

Several of Apple’s devices have limiting battery options, as they cannot be replaced on your own. The modified verbiage on the iPad, however, has raised a few brows. Compared to the jargon used for the iPhone battery replacement, it appears Apple may be expecting some issues with the batteries of its upcoming and heavily anticipated device.

One issue with the policy is that replaced devices could be refurbished. This is a relatively green (economic and otherwise) method for Apple, but should the company be charging so much for that process? The other issue is that your data will be lost, so backup of your iPad will be necessary for anything you want carried over to your replacement device.

The biggest issue, however, may be the iPad battery itself. Already the expectations around it have been compromised, so consumers and pundits alike will be looking for problems. The service fee, too, is a matter of debate, especially as the recall nation seeks retribution for faulty products. From Toyota to Pringles, the consumer trust level is waning for a few companies out there. With all the hype around Apple’s latest, will the iPad be something else to be distrusted?

If there really are battery problems with the iPad, consumers may be leary to purchase something with a known problem. Especially as they are made aware of the battery replacement policy beforehand, some consumers may want to wait until the next generation of the iPad all together.

Unless the iPad has major issues with its battery, I doubt this will become a major issue for sales or the legal system. Nevertheless, it’s important for Apple to protect its brand. Doing so will ensure the health of its media-changing potential with the iPad device itself.

Developers of Apple iPhone apps have noticed something new on their end–an Explicit category for iPhone apps. While the new category isn’t available in the iTunes store yet, its presence on the developers side of things suggests that Apple is looking to modify its app store and the criteria that goes along with a given application being accepted into the iTunes App Store itself.

The discovery comes shortly after Apple banned an overtly sexual app that was created for the iPhone’s mobile app platform, despite it being no more explicit than other apps already accepted into the App Store. The app banning was the last straw for many developers that have been seeking clarification from Apple as to what can and cannot be incorporated into a particular iPhone app. With confusion rising around the criteria Apple uses to determine which apps make it through the approval process and which apps are rejected, Apple has been stirring the pot and having to deal with a lot of frustrated developers, more than two years after launching the iPhone.

Some had even hoped that the Explicit category would appear with the latest iPhone device release, tough that didn’t happen. It’s a step that many platforms used for media distribution are hesitant to make, for mobile platforms, on-demand television and film content, and user-generated content. Finding the best way to deal with new and budding platforms as well as the established concept of tiered distribution to fit everyone’s needs is something that has not sped along with the mainstream adoption of certain technology, at least not without being labeled as taboo.

What this particular situation does highlight, however, is the need for Apple to improve its relationships with its developers and end users. The addition of an explicit category could prove to be an acceptable answer for dealing with the plight of concerned parents as well as developers looking for answers.

This is also something other developers and platforms can learn from. Google’s Android platform is open source, meaning it’s a great deal easier to push an app through to the Android market in comparison to the iTunes App Store. The open source tactic has caused its own set of problems for Google, given the security breaches some apps have benefited from for certain banking apps. So it’s clear that an acceptable medium needs to be met. For the time being, we’ll just look forward to the Explicit category from Apple, which would come just in time for the iPad release.

by Brian Solis My pal Frank Gruber of SomewhatFrank and I are running a quick online survey to see how you would end this sentence, “Web 2.0 is…” Yes, we know every classical definition, the history, the arguments for and against it, opinions, and everything in between.